"Fang Yan! You're the last one again! What are you standing around for? If you can't lift the three-hundred-jin stone lock today, don't even think about eating!"
The icy reprimand lashed across Fang Yan's back like a whip, jolting him awake from his exhausted daze.
He raised his head, and the first thing he saw was Zhao Gang's face, covered in rolls of flesh. Zhao Gang was the instructor of the Body Tempering Class at Donghai City Third Martial School. His eyes were filled with undisguised contempt, as if he were looking at some piece of trash.
A burst of stifled laughter and hushed discussion came from all around him.
"Hahaha, I knew he couldn't do it. He's been stuck at Body Tempering Third Layer for half a year."
"I heard he can't even perform the lowest-level Qi Induction into Body. He's a complete failure with no martial talent."
"Someone like him is still coming to martial school to waste resources? He might as well hurry home and farm."
Fang Yan's face instantly flushed crimson. His fingernails dug deeply into his palms, drawing blood. He clenched his fists, feeling the faint Blood Qi fluctuations within his body—so weak they could practically be ignored. His heart felt as though it were pinned beneath a massive boulder, leaving him unable to breathe.
This was the year 2245 AD, and humanity had already spent an entire century in the High Martial Era. A hundred years ago, Spatial Rifts had suddenly appeared, and countless vicious beasts and alien races had poured onto Earth, burning, killing, and looting until human civilization stood on the brink of collapse.
Just as humanity was about to become extinct, some people awakened martial talents. They could absorb the "Spiritual Qi" between heaven and earth to strengthen themselves, gaining the power to contend with the vicious beasts and alien races.
From then on, martial arts became humanity's only hope. Martial schools replaced ordinary schools and became cradles for cultivating the strong. Whether someone could cultivate martial arts, and what realm they could reach, directly determined their social status and fate.
And Fang Yan was one of the lowest beings in this era.
He had been born into an ordinary family. Both his parents were ordinary people without martial talent. Three years ago, he had fought with all his might to enter Donghai City Third Martial School. He had thought it would be the turning point of his life, but reality had dealt him the heaviest blow.
For three years, no matter how hard or desperately he trained, the Blood Qi in his body had never been able to break through the bottleneck of Body Tempering Third Layer, let alone condense internal force and enter the Qi Condensation Realm.
According to the martial school's rules, students in the Body Tempering Class who failed to break through to Body Tempering Fifth Layer before turning eighteen would be forcibly expelled. Fang Yan was already seventeen this year.
"A failure is a failure. No matter how much you train, it's useless." Zhao Gang impatiently kicked the stone lock beside him. "I'll give you one last hour. If you can't lift it, pack your things and get lost!"
With that, Zhao Gang turned and left, leaving Fang Yan alone on the empty training ground to endure everyone's gazes.
Those gazes held ridicule, pity, and, more than anything else, indifference. In this High Martial world where the weak were prey to the strong, no one would pity a failure without talent.
Fang Yan drew a deep breath, suppressing the humiliation and unwillingness in his heart. He walked to the three-hundred-jin stone lock, squatted down, and wrapped both hands tightly around its icy body.
"Ha!"
He let out a low roar. Every muscle in his body tensed in an instant, blue veins bulging as his face became drenched in savage sweat.
Yet the stone lock did not move an inch.
Once, twice, three times...
Fang Yan tried again and again, exhausting every ounce of strength in his body each time, but he could not even lift one corner of the stone lock. The Blood Qi within him was like a dried-up river, growing weaker and weaker. Every muscle in his body ached unbearably, as if it might tear apart at any moment.
Sweat ran down his forehead and dripped onto the ground, kicking up tiny clouds of dust. His vision began to blur, and the jeers around him grew more and more distant.
"I can't give up... I can't be expelled..."
Fang Yan gritted his teeth, with only one thought in his mind. He remembered the expectant looks in his parents' eyes. He remembered the vow he had once made—to become strong and protect his family.
Just as he was about to collapse and his consciousness was on the verge of fading, a cold, mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
[Strong will to survive and intense unwillingness detected in host. Binding conditions met...] [Heaven Rewards Diligence System binding in progress...10%...50%...100%! Binding successful!] [Beginner mission issued: Lift a three-hundred-jin stone lock within one hour.] [Mission reward: Body Tempering Realm Qi and Blood Pill x1, Basic Fist Technique proficiency +10%.] [Mission failure: System unbinding. Host will permanently lose the qualification to cultivate.]
Fang Yan froze, thinking he was hallucinating. But the clear mechanical voice and the pale-blue virtual panel that had suddenly appeared in his mind both told him that this was no dream!
He had really bound himself to a system!
"System? Heaven Rewards Diligence System?" A surge of wild joy welled up in Fang Yan's heart, like a ray of dawn appearing in the darkness.
He forcibly suppressed his excitement and turned his gaze back to the stone lock. With the system, with hope, he felt as if a new force had begun surging through his body.
[Host's condition is poor. Would you like to consume 10 points of Willpower to temporarily increase Blood Qi by 10%?]
"Yes!" Fang Yan silently repeated the word in his mind without hesitation.
The next second, a warm current instantly spread throughout his body. His muscles, which had been aching unbearably, seemed to receive nourishment, and the Blood Qi within him became several times more active.
"Ha!"
Fang Yan roared again, and unprecedented strength erupted from his arms.
This time, the three-hundred-jin stone lock was actually lifted slowly into the air!
His arms still trembled violently, and sweat poured down like a waterfall, but he had truly done it!
The jeers around him abruptly ceased. Everyone widened their eyes and stared at Fang Yan in disbelief.
"He...he lifted it?"
"How is that possible? Couldn't he even lift two hundred jin?"
"Am I seeing things?"
Fang Yan ignored everyone's shock. Gritting his teeth, he persisted until he had raised the stone lock above his head, holding it there for a full ten seconds before slowly lowering it.
"Huff...huff..."
He gasped heavily, his entire body collapsing onto the ground, but a long-lost smile appeared on his face.
[Beginner mission complete! Reward has been issued to system space. Please check and claim it.] [Host has successfully broken through the bottleneck of Body Tempering Third Layer. Current realm: Body Tempering Fourth Layer!]
As the system notification sounded, an even stronger warm current surged into Fang Yan's body, washing through his meridians and flesh. He could clearly feel that his strength, speed, and constitution had all improved significantly.
Body Tempering Fourth Layer!
He had finally broken through the bottleneck that had troubled him for half a year!
Fang Yan clenched his fists, feeling the unprecedented power within him, his eyes shining with firm resolve.
"Zhao Gang, and all of you who mocked me—just watch."
"From today onward, I, Fang Yan, am no longer a failure!"
"I'll use this mortal body to knock open the supreme gate of martial arts, one step at a time!"
Beneath the setting sun, the youth sat collapsed on the training ground. His figure was slender, yet it radiated a stubbornness that would never submit. His path through the High Martial world had only truly begun at this moment.
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